Relationship dossier
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Relationship assessment
Economic engagement alongside a prominent dispute over travel restrictions
Tunisia toward United Arab Emirates
-25Tunisia suspended Emirates airline flights in December 2017 after the UAE imposed travel restrictions affecting Tunisian women, making the dispute a significant instance of Tunisian government action toward the UAE.
United Arab Emirates toward Tunisia
-25The UAE imposed travel restrictions affecting Tunisian women in 2017, prompting a diplomatic dispute and Tunisia’s suspension of Emirates flights.
Overall relationship
-20The relationship combines economic engagement with a notable political and travel-related dispute. The 2017 restrictions and flight suspension demonstrate that bilateral ties have experienced meaningful friction, while the scale and continuity of cooperative arrangements are unclear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Tunisia–United Arab Emirates relations have included economic and diplomatic engagement, but a prominent dispute over travel restrictions on Tunisian women led Tunisia to suspend Emirates airline flights in 2017. The episode illustrates recurring political friction; the breadth and durability of substantive cooperation are less clear.
Areas of tension
- The 2017 UAE travel restrictions affecting Tunisian women and Tunisia’s response against Emirates airline flights.
Key developments
The UAE imposed travel restrictions affecting Tunisian women; Tunisia responded by suspending Emirates airline flights.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral economic cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which the 2017 travel dispute affected subsequent government relations is uncertain.